Come Find Me
by The-Sakura-Chan
Summary: A young girl is haunting Jack, but her reasons are unknown. Only when a string of murders appear that Jack slowly finds out why the girl wants his attention so badly. Contains Jack, Gwen and Ianto.
1. The Beginning

**Disclaimer: **I do not in any way own Torchwood or it's characters

**Note : **This is something I wrote a while back and found that it could be published on here because it's involved Torchwood ^^

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Chapter 1 – The Beginning

The walls of the room had been wall papered and then painted, trying to make it look bigger then it really was with a coat of cream paint. The room was called 'The Box Room', mainly because of it's shape and size. Looking in through the door, the window was to the left, straight in front was the bed, two pillows and a duvet having been placed neatly on. The bed was just shorter in length then the room itself, leaving a gap at the end where items could be placed down onto the floor. To the right of the room, behind the door, was a large and small chest of draws (The large filled with clothes, the small one filled with books and paper). The larger of the two was lighter in color. On top of them were files which had been stacked in the corner, holding school work from her past years at school.

By the window, which was framed with blue curtains, was a desk, an old TV set positioned at the end closest to the bed. It was on, but the sound had been turned right down, a black and white film being shown. The room was filled with personal items, school books, DVDs, games, novels. A plant was growing in a pot on the windowsill, next to it was a fake black rose. Papers laid on the left over space on the desk, people's profiles, blue prints of a building, newspaper clippings. A black book had been placed in the middle of all the papers. The words over the front cover had been done in gold print and read 'Memories of My Family'. It looked like it had never been opened, as the piece of string wrapped around it had not been untied or cut. Like she did not want to open it, fearing what was inside.

Clothes and blankets had been thrown over the back of a chair. The floor space which had been left after all these items had been placed into the room was small, just enough for someone to curl up there if they were staying over the night. But no one was ever going to be staying over again, no one would be allowed. Because it was not her room to let people stay in, she was alone and that was what the doctors said was good for her. She needed to 'get better'. Whatever 'better' was.

She was laid on the bed, her hands placed neatly on her stomach with her eyes closed. The sound of her breathing was clear in the room, sometimes blocked out by the bird calls from outside. She was dressed in black trousers with a black shirt on, the sleeves coming down to her elbows. Dark brown hair fell onto her shoulders, curling at the bottom. Red high lights ran through her hair, itself added a bit of colour to the normal boring brown. She was not wearing any socks, those had been removed and thrown into the washing basket before she had headed back up to her room. You could not tell that by looking at her if she was asleep or not, but really there was no way she would be able to sleep. Her mind racing with thoughts. Repeating over and over what she had wanted to say to the doctors.

'My name is Claudia. I live with what little family I have left. My auntie and her two daughters. But I can't really call them family, none of them like me. I'm just the strange girl who is depressed over her family being killed. My mother and father were killed two months ago. The police said it was a wild animal attack, but I'm not that stupid. I know it was aliens, even if no one wants to believe me. The doctors say I am mad, unsafe. I want to find out the truth about their death, about what is in this world. And…' She opened her eyes and looked slowly around, before sitting up, looking at the wall in front of her. Her feet touching to cause her legs to make a diamond shape.

"I want revenge." Was said in a cool, calm voice, not the voice of someone who had lost their mind. Turning her head to look at the closed door, she said. "I know you're out there Jack. Come and find me." Swinging her legs out of bed, she rubbed her eyes slightly, before standing up and stretching. At the same time her phone went off and she grabbed it from the desk, slipping it up to answer it.

"You're awake at last then." The male voice on the other end of the line said, and caused her to look up at the clock which had been hung up on the wall facing the door. It read 10:48 AM, which she did not believe to be too late in the morning to be getting up.

"I did not set the wake up call, sorry." Sighing, she ran a hand through her hair, before shaking it back into place again.

"That does not matter right now. He was out again last night and I got some footage for you." As the man was speaking, Claudia walked to the desk, picked up the black book and looked it over. Shaking her head, she threw the book down on the bed and started going through some of the papers which were there.

"It was some really good footage this time, very clear, good detail on it all. I had to hack the system to get it, but it was worth the risk." The man laughed lightly from the other end of the line as she mucked around getting out a laptop from under the bed and starting it up.

"Send it over and I will watch it, see what we can get from the film. We must be able to pick up something from it." Once it was loaded, she found the email she needed and opened it up.

"Okay, I'm watching it now."

The video player popped up onto the screen, and pushing everything off of the chair, she sat down to watch. To start with, everything was dark until a light flicked on in the footage. The area was suddenly flooded with a bright light and the area turned out to be a courtyard of some sort. She leaned in closer to try and see more, the phone still held to her ear with the man on the other end. A shadow moved across the courtyard and there was a loud bang along with the sound of someone or something moving around. More shadows appeared, but on the other side of the courtyard and there was a yell of 'Stop right there. Drop your weapon'. She knew the voice too well.

"That's him alright, no denying that." She whispered as guns were fired and 3 figures ran across the screen, two in front and disappearing off the other end of the screen. The third just stopped halfway across the courtyard, seemingly watching the others. The person was stood in a blue jacket, which was blowing in the wind, a gun held in their hand. For a moment they just stood there, not moving, before they turned to look at the camera. His hair made the faintest of moves because of the wind, bright eyes scanning the camera. She was transfixed by him and did not notice him raising his gun and taking it out with one shot until the screen went blank.

"There is no more footage after that and it seems that all the other camera were not working. I was only just able to get the short bit of footage you just saw before someone deleted it. I think they were trying to cover up their tracks or something." She was not really listening to what he was saying as she replayed the clip and paused it on the point when he was looking up at the camera.

"Captain Jack Harkness. I can find you, now why can't you find me?" She seemed to be lost in thought for a moment, before she turned in her chair and placed her feet up onto the bed. "I want you to send out the signal again, all stations, just get it out there for me. He has to hear me at some point in time. Speak later." She put the phone down on the man before he had time to disagree with her request.

Looking at Jack's face on the screen, she felt like screaming 'Find me', but changed her mind and got up. Fishing a pair of striped socks from a draw, she pulled them on along with a pair of battered looking army boots. Taking a last look at Jack, she grabbed a jacket before leaving her room and heading out.

**OOC - Continued**


	2. Man, Beast or Alien?

**Disclaimer: **I do not in any way own Torchwood or it's characters

**Note : **Second chapter so far ^^

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Chapter 2 – Man, Beast or Alien?

"I know you're out there Jack, I have found you so many times. So why can't you find me? Are you not looking? Captain Jack Harkness. Torchwood. It's all true, I know, no one can pull the wool over my eyes. Find me Jack, just find me." Claudia's voice rang over the radio which was set down by a pair of shoed feet which had been placed up onto a desk. The music cut back in again, before a presenter started talking, saying how sorry he was for what had just happened. Reaching forwards, the radio was turned off and placed down flat onto the desk.

Ianto was stood in the doorway, looking in on Jack. He worried about him so much, this girl had been appearing on the radio more and more, haunting Jack with her voice. As he stepped in, Jack did not look around or react, his eyes fixed on a wall across the room. He let a hand go to his face, like he was trying to hide from it all.

"Jack, why do you listen to her?" Ianto asked as he watched him, wanting to just go over and give him a hug. But right then, he did not feel that it was his place to get involved. This was something which Jack was trying to deal with, but he seemed to be doing so badly. It had been happening for a month, everyday this girl would appear on the radio without warning, asking for Jack to come and find her. Calling for him, talking about things which even Jack no longer wanted to speak on. She knew more about him then Jack felt comfortable with.

"Can't we track her, find out where the source is coming from? Can't we do anything Jack, I can see how this is affecting you and I don't like it." This comment made Jack look around at Ianto, his eyes seeming to say no even before his mouth had opened. It was not that he did not wish to get this girl to leave him along, he just could not find her. However many scans he had done, the source could not be tracked down to one place. It was on the move all the time it seemed, he was slowly starting to give up.

"If I could make her stop, then I would. But whatever I do is not enough it seems." Jack had lost his flare, his will to go out there and do something to help the world. He had sunk back into a state of depression which Ianto had never seen before. "I don't even know what she wants from me, she just keeps calling out over the radio, asking for me to hunt her down. But it's not as easy as that Ianto, I don't know where to look." Getting up from his seat, Jack crossed the room in a few steps and was soon stood, looking at Ianto. A hand raised and he gently stroked one of his cheeks, trying to fake a smile to show that everything was alright when it was not.

"Come on, don't worry about me so much. We have a job to do, lets not forget that." Kissing him on the forehead, Jack left the room while leaving Ianto just stood there, looking down at the floor before he followed after him. Gwen was stood at the computers, logging the events of last night in a file so that it could be looked back on. She looked tired, sipping at strong coffee now and then to keep herself awake.

"Hello Jack." She said in a small voice when she saw him out of the corner of her eye, waving a hand over her shoulder before getting back to typing. "I heard her again. Same message as last time. I did a track and it turned up in a disused warehouse, do you think we should check it out?" No answer came for Gwen and she sighed, turning around to look at him. He was stood, staring up into space, hands in his pockets.

"Jack, we can't go on like this. Under staffed, no medic, we have to get others. I can't keep doing everyone else's jobs. I know Ianto is trying to help, but there is only so much we can do." Gwen knew she was talking to herself, but went on. "How long have you spent just staring into space these last few weeks? We must move on, it's what they would have wanted us to do Jack." Gwen had no time to wait for Jack's reaction as there was a bleeping from the computer which she had been on.

A warning sign flashed up on the screen and this caused Gwen to start typing rapidly on the keyboard. Jack walked to her, peering over her shoulder to read what was on the screen. In flashing bold red letters, the words 'Riff Activity' showed while a map was being zoomed in on to find the point of origin. As soon as the location was pin pointed (The City Centre), Jack was walking away from Gwen.

"Ianto, get the SUV." Jack yelled, the old spark of leadership had returned to him and he seemed to have his old flare back as he rushed back up to his office to grab his jacket. Pulling it on as he ran down the stairs, he dashed over to Gwen who was looking over the reports which were coming in, trying to work out what was going on and what they would be facing by the time they got there. It had turned back into a normal day for them. Finding some riff activity and going to sort out whatever came through from the other side. Protecting the people of Cardiff from the unknown aliens which appeared from time to time.

"Seems like something came through into a block of flats. Top Floor. The police are already on their way there, so we better hurry." Gwen told Jack as the pair ran out and up to the surface, seeing Ianto pulling over the Torchwood SUV for them to get into. "Just like old times Jack." She smiled as she looked at Jack, who gave her a wink as he got into the front of the SUV. Gwen jumped into the back, just being able to shut the door in time before it started to drive away.

Torchwood were not the only ones to pick up on the riff activity. Laying out on a roof opposite where everyone was crowding, he held a camera to his eye, looking down on the police trying to keep people away from the building. Their efforts were poor, as more people seemed to appear from no where, wanting to know what was happening and why the police had turned up. No one was being allowed near the building until the police had sorted out what was going on there. He snapped a few pictures of the police officers, just something to pass the time until the people he wanted to see turned up.

Swinging the SUV around the corner, Ianto stopped just behind the parked police cars and he, along with Jack and Gwen, got out. The three walked calmly towards the now taped off area with people to the side away from the building in question. Jack looked at a police officer and simply said 'Torchwood', which caused the officer to nod lightly and lift up the tape for them to walk under. In a few steps, Jack was stood next to the officer in charge and asking questions about what was going on. Gwen and Ianto was just stood waiting, not wanting to go in before Jack said so.

"We got a report of screaming coming from the top flat, the people we have interviewed said it sounded like some sort of dog was growling in there as well, but the woman who owns the flat does not have a dog and there is no way one could have got in without the door being broken down. It's still there, in tact, not a mark to it. No one has been in the flat yet, so, shall we go up?" The officer asked and Jack gave a small nod, gesturing for him to lead the way. Jack could see that the officer did not like having Jack or his team around, feeling that it was his case to follow up, not Torchwoods But then again, he did not understand why it was Jack's case.

The man on the roof was having a field day with the snap shots he was getting of Jack, Gwen and Ianto, trying to get as many as he could before they disappeared inside of the building. Removing the camera from his eye, he just stared at the building itself, wishing that he could see through the walls at what was going on inside. But that was just a childish dream and so he shook his head lightly, pushing the thought to the back of his mind as he replaced the camera to his eye and tried to lower his body even more.

Getting to the top floor, the small group stopped at the door to number '5'. Jack walked forwards and up to the door, placing his ear against it and listening. He could not hear anything moving around inside and so looked back at Gwen and Ianto, before looking at the officer. The look he gave was that of 'Leave us to it' and giving a small huff, the office walked off back down the stairs, muttering to himself about how people should not get involved with his line of work. Once the officer was out of sight and ear shot, Jack nodded to the pair stood watching him, before turning on the door and kicking it in sharply.

As soon as Jack's foot had made contact with the door, both Gwen and Ianto had pulled out their guns and had them pointed towards the door. The door swung back and hit the wall, giving Jack enough time to get out his own gun before peering into the hallway which had been behind the door. Guns raised, they slowly made their way inside, keeping close as they walked. The flat looked like all the other flats in the block, painted in a cream colour, carpets cream, dim lighting. But unlike the others, this one had a strong smell of blood to it. Gwen placed a hand to her nose, trying to block out the smell as she walked.

Slowly walking along, they checked each room in turn before they reached the bedroom.

Nothing had been touched in the others, but something was wrong in the bedroom. The smell of blood was drifting out from the partly open door, the light was out and the sound of wind blowing in from a window could be heard. Using the barrel of his gun, Jack pushed the door open, placing his head around the door, he looked in. For a few moments he could see nothing, until his eyes got used to the darkness. Pushing the door open fully, he let the light from the hallway light up the room fully and show what it was hiding.

Slumped in a corner, with the bed covers laying over their body, a woman with blood running down her head could be seen. The bed covers were stained and ripped, blood was splattered on the walls and carpet. It had been an attack of some sort, but from where the three were stood, it was unclear what had caused the attack. Stepping in, Jack tip toed towards the dead body of the woman. Her eyes had rolled up into her head and her skin had gone white from blood lose. Reaching towards, he went to pull the bed cover from her body.

"Jack, you can't do that. The poor woman is dead, just let her be." Gwen said quickly, not really wanting to see what was under the cover apart from the woman. The smell of blood was getting to her, and it could be seen in her face. Her hand was still held over her nose and mouth to try and block out the smell, but it was not really working. Ianto was just stood watching, turned sideways so he could check out of the door to make sure no one was there in the flat with them.

"Gwen, I need to see what has happened. Trust me please." Jack said in a hiss as he looked around at Gwen, before whipping back the bed cover.

Gwen held in a scream and being sick at the same time. Jack was so shocked, he had to take a step back and Ianto turned his head away from it. The woman had had her stomach ripped out, along with her heart. Both were missing, not at the scene of the crime. Jack was looking at Gwen for a moment, before looking back at the body of the woman. He leaned in slightly to get a better look at the wounds on her.

"You sure this is where the riff activity was coming from then?" Jack asked, wanting to be sure. Gwen pulled out a small device and pressed buttons on it, before giving a small nod, which she then realised had not been seen by Jack, who had his back to her.

"Yes, right here. Jack, what do you think did this?" Gwen had never seen anything like it before, wondering what they would be up against this time. Ianto had moved from the doorway and over to the open window. Looking out over the edge, he looked down at the road below before up and around. It was a long fall and the jump to a different building was too far for any human or dog for that matter.

"Whatever it was, it must have left this way. You can see a trail of blood on the windowsill, it could be on the ground below us as well. I will go and check." Was said low by Ianto, as he edged past Jack and Gwen and out of the room. Heading off down the hallway, he stopped suddenly, feeling like something was watching him. Looking around slowly, he saw a shadow move out of the corner of his eye and turned around sharply, gun raised. Nothing was there. He must been seeing things, could have been his own shadow. Shaking his head again, he turned back around and screamed.

Jack and Gwen came running from the room and down the hallway. Ianto was on the floor, having fallen over in shock. His gun was laying away from him slightly and he was just staring up at the space in the front door way. Shaking, he felt Gwen place a hand on his shoulder and jumped. She had knelt down by him as Jack rushed past, looking out of the door before coming back.

"What happened?" Jack asked as he looked into Ianto's scared eyes, pressing for an answer with just the look he was giving. Ianto said nothing for a moment, before he answered the question.

"It was a glowing pair of eyes, just in mid air, looking straight at me. Like their were trying to look through me. Just out of nowhere, suddenly there." Ianto was taking some deep breaths as he looked up at Jack, clearly shaken up by what he had just seen. Gwen patted him lightly on the shoulder, before she stood up. Jack held out his hand for Ianto, and as he took a hold of it, Jack pulled him up and onto his feet. Gwen scooped up Ianto gun and handed it back. The three just looked at each other for a moment, before Jack nodded and they made their way to leave.

"Gwen, I want you to try and find any CCTV for me, lets try and see what attacked this poor woman. Ianto, follow up on that idea of there being blood outside. For now, tell the police it was a animal attack and let them wrap it up like that. Whatever did attack her, it was no animal. It knew what it was doing." Jack let the words just roll off of his tongue, his spark had returned, seeming to have forgotten about the girl on the radio.

When they stepped out of the building, he was ready to start taking photos again. Even from far up high, he was able to see that at least one member of the group looked spooked over something. He followed them with the camera until they got into their SUV and drove off. Sitting up, he placed the camera down next to him, before getting out his phone. Dialing in a number and soon he had the phone to his ear, listening to it ringing. There was the sound of someone picking up and a 'Yer' before he started speaking.

"Claudia. I got some pictures which you may like. It seems our little Torchwood have found a case to get involved in. You know the normal meeting place right, I will be there right away for you. You're going to love me for this."

**OOC - Continued**


	3. The Weevils

**Disclaimer: **I do not in any way own Torchwood or it's characters

**Note : **I can remember writing this story and how excited I got, thinking I would be able to send it into the BBC. I was wrong. They don't want members of the public writing story ideas to send them. Shame. But you guys get to enjoy it now!

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Chapter 3 – The Weevils

Claudia walked with her hands in her pockets, head held low as she went. After being told that someone had some photos for her on Captain Jack Harkness, she had dropped what she had been doing and headed out. As it only being 2 in the afternoon, she thought it was a big early for Jack to be out doing his job, but then again, she had come to learn that he could appear out at any time, it did not seem to matter if it was the dead of night or the middle of the day. He always worked. The man never seemed to take a holiday, how boring she thought.

Being pushed about in the crowd, Claudia did her best to bite her tongue over shouting at people to watch where they were going. It was not their fault really, they were just trying to get somewhere in a hurry and with so many people out, who could really be to blame for there being a lot of pushing on the pavements. No one wanted to walk in the road as it was so busy and the risk of getting hit by a car was high. No one was in that much of a rush to risk their own lives against the cars and motorbikes.

She stopped outside of a café and smiled as she looked through the glass windows, seeing the man who had been taking photographs from the roof sat down at a table. He had not noticed her, but it did not matter. Going to the door, she pushed it open and a little bell went to tell the people behind the counter that someone had just entered. The man at the table looked up at her and smiled, standing up to greet her with a warm handshake. He looked somewhat older then her and taller, but his warm smile made him seem younger. More her own age.

"So." She said as she sat down. "You were able to get me some photos. I don't know what to say, thank you or well done." She tried not to sound like she was mocking him and what he had done for her, but smiled all the same as she watched him get out his camera and turn it on.

"Just went to where the police were and there he was, turned up in his car along with the rest of his team. Tried to get as many snaps as I could for you before he disappeared, like he always does." A light laugh left both of their lips as they sat there. Once the camera was on, he went onto preview before handing it over to Claudia. "Just click the arrows to change the pictures or to zoom in." Was said low as he watched Claudia's eyes scan the small screen.

The first few pictures were of no interest to her, just normal police officers. But then came the pictures she had been wanting. Captain Jack, Gwen and Ianto. Clear photographs of their faces as they walked from their car, over to the police officers and then into the building. One photo caught her eye, it was one of Ianto on the way out of the building. His eyes held a haunted look that even she could see from the photo. For a moment she just stared at the screen, before looking up at the man in front of her and smiling.

"Do you know what was going on in that building? Why the police were there?" She asked, watching as the man shook his head slightly. He looked sorry as he sat there, sighing low before trying to smile. "Oh, it does not matter. I can find out anywhere. Thank you so much for these. Send them over to me as soon as you can. I can't thank you enough." She set the camera down on the table, before standing up. She leant forwards slightly and kissed him on the forehead. Before turning to leave.

"Is that it then?" He asked as he looked up at her, not really wanting Claudia to go just yet.

Claudia looked around at the man and smiled, nodding slightly.

"I'm sorry, but I have things to do. Just send me the photos soon please. Thank you. Bye." She gave a small wave before walking briskly out of the café and back out onto the street. She felt a sense of relief come over her at being away from the man. She had only wanted the photos, not a long chat on something which she had no interest in.

As she walked down the street, her phone started ringing and she pulled it out of her pocket. Seeing who it was phoning her, she flipped the phone up and placed it to her ear. A light smile had drifted over her lips.

"Well hello there Claudia. I put it out on the radio for you. I hope you're happy. I could be tracked down and you don't seem to care very much about it. But anyway, I was scanning the police files and a new report popped up which I thought you may want to know about." It was the same guy who had phoned her this morning to send her the footage over.

"I think I know what that will be about. I just got some photos of Captain Jack and his team going into a building in the centre of Cardiff. He will find me in the end, won't he? Because I don't know how much more of this I can take you know. Just waiting for him to come and find me." She was holding back tears as she walked.

"Just remember that he was the one who was meant to come and help your family and could not be bothered. So you let him come and find you, because it's his job Claudia. Be strong, it won't be long now." He was trying to cheer her up, laughing lightly from the other end of the line. Claudia started laughing as well as she walked, getting strange looked off of people who went by her. Pushing the tears from her eyes, she smiled lightly.

"You're right, the man will come to me." Claudia looked around herself slightly, before crossing the road in front of a car, which caused the driver to hit his horn sharply and start shouting from inside of his car. Claudia looked around at the driver, mouthed 'Oh Shut Up' before walking away from the scene she had now caused.

"Just find out what you can from the police files and get back to me. I'm going to sort a few things out. Bye." Claudia laughed again before putting down the phone and slipping it into her pocket. Taking a final look around herself, she slipped down an alleyway and off, disappearing out of sight from everyone else on the main street.

The walk down the alleyway was really nothing new to the girl, she was more then happy to walk past the drunks and homeless, not taking in their calls for help or over how 'Good looking' she was. It was just a matter of life which she got on with. Stepping into a puddle, the water rippled around her boot and a near by rat went running off in fear. Even the rats did not want to be around her, it said little for what she was trying to do then. Rounding a corner, she stopped in her tracks, looking at the creatures leant over a body.

They growled and looked around at her, seeming ready to run at her. The weevils, 4 in total, looked at each other and then back to her. Their bodies swaying from side to side before one took a step towards Claudia. 'Just like the poor rats' was the thought to appear in her mind as she looked at the weevils, feeling somewhat sorry for them and the state they were in. Just lost and trying to lead a normal life of which they knew.

Stood with her hands on her hips, Claudia laughed. "I'm not afraid of you, it takes a lot more to scare me. I'm stronger then I look." Her eyes ran over each weevil in turn, as if weighing up in her mind which one she would prefer to take on. Her arms were then folded over her chest.

"Because to the world out there." She pointed back to where she had come from. "They don't know you, don't even know that your stood down here right over, leaning over a body to feast on what you can." Just like a weevil had, Claudia took a step forwards, daring them to attack her.

"To them, you're nothing. Nothing but a myth. Nothing but the stories they tell children." Not knowing if they could understand her or not was not really an issue for her. She just carried on talking. "I know a man who hunts people like you. Very good at it. And yet, he can't find me. Not even a hint of me. Now that's being poor at his job." Shaking her head, she stepped forwards once more. If it was the fact that she was talking, or that she was stepping closer to them, but the weevils were keeping a fair distance from her.

"Now, run!" She said sharply, eyes seeming to change with a fire which was not there. She was copying the weevils, swaying form side to side as she looked at them.

When none of them moved, she smiled and pulled her phone from her pocket. Flipping it up, she pressed a few buttons before looking at the weevils and winking. The phone produced a high pitched screaming sound, enough to make many a dog or cat sit up in the area and start howling or meowing. Their fled, wanting to be away from the sound.

"I told you to run, you did not listen." She let the sound carry on until she knew the weevils were gone, before turning it off and pocketing the phone. Wandering to where the weevils had been, she looked down at the body which they had been over, looking at the poor ripped state it was in. What she did not know was, the same thing had happened to that body, as had to the body Torchwood found. No heart, no stomach and it was no weevil attack.

**OOC - Continued**


	4. New Information

**Disclaimer: **I do not in any way own Torchwood or it's characters

**Note : **Moving on chapter 4, I'm hoping it's all flowing nicely together :D

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Chapter 4 – New Information

Jack paced up an down, trying to rattle his brain for what could have caused the death of the woman they had found in the flat. He had not seen anything like it before and so this put the team back a step from catching what had done it. Tapping his forehead slightly, he looked around at Gwen as she tried to track down some CCTV of around the time that the attack took place, but nothing seemed to be coming up on the computers. Holding back yelling at the screen of the computer, Gwen sighed low, looking around at Jack before going back to what she was doing.

"Maybe it was just an animal attack Jack, I can't find anything on the camera." Gwen said low, having become tired of searching the CCTV for something which she did not know the appearance of. "I mean, she may have let the animal in without knowing what it was before it was too late. You know, thinking it was friendly until it turned on her."

"Gwen, when was the last time you saw a dog carefully take out the heart and stomach of a woman, then open the window and jump out?" Jack asked as he stopped, placing his hands on his hips as he looked at her.

"I was just saying. Sorry." Gwen rolled her eyes before walking from the computer. "Can you not think of anything which you have come across which could have caused this?"

"If I knew what it was, I would have told you by now dear. It could be-" Jack was cut off by bleeping as Ianto entered the Hub, holding a stack of books in his arms as he walked. Both Gwen and Jack gave him odd looks as he placed the books down and looked at them like he had just discovered how to make free electricity.

"Still got no idea what could have caused this then?" Ianto said with a smile as he looked at Jack and then to Gwen before looking back at Jack.

"No clue, so what you got there then?" Jack asked as he walked over and picked up one of the books. It read 'Creatures of Mythology'. He opened it and the book fell open to a page titled 'Hell Hounds'. Jack looked at the drawing of the three headed dog in the middle of the page.

"Is this what you think attacked our woman? Some mythical creatures which was said to sit at the gates of hell? You do know that this was just a myth, used to scare people into being good so that they did not go to hell?" Ianto seemed hurt by Jack's comment, but tried not to show it too much. Taking the book from Jack, he scan read for a few paragraphs, before starting to read out loud.

" 'Dogs have ambivalent symbolism as protective guardians, often appearing as ferocious watchdogs like Cerberus, the three-headed snapping keeper of the gates to Hades. It was said that each head preferred a different part of a human. The first head would take the heart, the second would take the stomach and the third would take the liver.' Jack, what if this creature is real, on some strange world and has come through the riff. We have one death already, what if these creatures which we believed to be just myths were real somewhere?"

Ianto had been doing his best to find an answer for what had happened. He had also found a number of books on what the glowing eyes could have been, but he did not dare to tell Jack or Gwen that he had.

"Even if they were true, no one had reported seeing a three headed dog running around Cardiff with the heart and stomach of a dead woman in it's mouth. Also, the body was not missing a liver, so it can't be true then. Nice try Ianto." Jack sounded like he was mocking Ianto as he placed the book back down and headed for the stairs to go up to his office. "If you really believe that a three headed dog is the reason why a woman is dead, then you go looking into it. I'm not going to."

Both Gwen and Ianto felt let down by Jack, who walked away from them both to go to his office. Ianto had tried his best to come up with an answer, Jack had not even been trying to think of something. The pair looked at each other, before Gwen gave a small smile and started to go back over the CCTV. Even if it was not a hell hound, there had to be something on the CCTV that they had missed the first time they had looked it over.

Placing himself down into the chair, Jack gave a light sigh as he looked around his office. The place seemed so different, having lost a part of it with Tosh and Owen dead, a gap which they had been able to fill. Drumming his nails on the desk he was sat at, Jack's eyes went to the radio for a moment, before he looked away. As if he was fearing it would turn on and the girl's voice would be there again. It had drilled into his head every time it had appeared. This call for help, for someone to find her.

'Jack, please come and find me. It's your job to help people like me against the terror of the night. Where were you the night my family died, at the hands of something sick, something evil? Where were you?' Her voice just ran over and over again in Jack's mind, driving him slowly mad and caused him to stand up quickly and shake his head to try and rid it from his head.

"You're not real, I would have found you by now if you were real." Jack said in a whisper, as if trying to make himself believe that the girl was not real. "I have looked, but you don't help me. No clues, no nothing." Taking a deep breath or two, Jack stared at the radio before picking it up and turning it on. Classical music played softly out of the speaker and Jack gave a light smile.

As he placed it down onto the desk and sat back down in the chair, the classical music seemed to fade and was cut in.

"Jack, why are you sitting around? There is a body out there somewhere, ripped to pieces nearly. And you have not found it yet, you're not doing a good job there. I found it, down a alleyway. These creatures were stood over it, feasting from it. I scared them away, it should be safe for you to go to it now. Come on Jack, I know you can find it, just like I know you can find me. Because it's your job. Remember that now." Jack was shaking slightly as the voice disappeared from the radio and the classical music came back on.

"JACK!" Someone yelled from inside the Hub and this caused Jack to jump up out of his chair and walk to the door. Opening it, he looked over the side of the railings and down on Gwen and Ianto.

"New reports coming in on a body which has been found down an alleyway, sounds like the same sort of attack which there was before." Gwen said, looking up at Jack for a moment, before back to the computer screen. Ianto was about to run off to get the SUV ready, then Jack started speaking and this caused him to stop.

"I will go. When I get there, I will radio in and you can find me on GPS. As soon as you know the location, I want you to start checking CCTV in the area and any reports which come in from the police." He said all of this while he was walking down the stairs, pulling on his jacket. "Ianto, you keep doing your research, we have to follow up any lead which we can get." It was false hope really, but there and then, Jack was willing to go with anything.

Storming out of the Hub, Jack did not bother with the Torchwood SUV. He made his way on foot, just following his ears for the sound of police cars. 10 minutes into hunting the streets and Jack found the scene. Police officers had already swarmed the place and some remembered Jack from before. Letting him pass without question, he was left on his own to head down the alleyway and to the dead body.

No one had touched it yet, photographs being taken first of all before they brought anyone in to try and determine what had happened. The body was of a young man, around middle 20's, fairly well off by the look of his clothes. His eyes, like the woman's in the flat, had rolled up into his head. He was pale and missing his heart and stomach.

Jack felt his own stomach turn over, the voice on the radio had been right all along. He had not wanted to believe it, but now he had the proof in front of him. Bending down slightly, he looked over the two wounds, wondering what could have wanted to take the heart and stomach of someone and run off. There was no trail of blood from the scene, and so Jack had to guess that either the organs had been put away in a bag of some sort or something else had gotten rid of them in the form of eating.

When Jack stood up straight, he looked around himself. For a moment he looked down the alleyway away from the police and something caught his eye. Someone was stood at the end of the alley, just watching Jack and his every move. It looked like a young girl, brown hair, bright eyes, dressed all in black. A light smile was running over her lips. Jack shook his head, looking away and then looking back again.

She was no dream, nothing which had been formed from his imagination. He was going to call out to her, but it was like the words had been taken from his mouth as the girl spoke, leaving Jack with his mouth open and moving it like a gold fish.

"Who am I? Was that what you were going to ask?" He knew her voice and panic set in. This was the haunting voice of the girl on the radio. "You did not come to find me this time Jack, so lets try again. Come find me." She turned and walked away from him. Heading for an alleyway just off of the one they were on.

Jack followed, walking at first before it turned into a run. His voice had returned and he was calling out 'Stop, who are you? Answer me'. But by the time he got to the end of the alleyway, she was gone, having slipped off before he could catch up. He was stood, staring down the alleyway she had disappeared into.

"Who are you? Help me to find you!" Jack yelled, his eyes wide as he stood there, panting ever so slightly. It took him awhile to pull himself away from where he was stood. Heading back towards the dead body, a female police officer had appeared because of the shouting. She looked worried as she looked up at Jack.

"Is something the matter sir? Was someone here as well?" Her voice was calm, somewhat too sweet for a police officer, but none the less it did not matter.

"No, it's nothing. Tell your officers, Torchwood are dealing with this now." Jack gave a cold look towards the woman and she nodded slightly, before scuttling off out of sight. Jack looked down at the body before pressing a button on the side of his ear piece.

"Gwen, find my GPS, we have a body on our hands now. And also, I want you to check the CCTV for a girl heading down the alleyway I'm in, she may be linked to all of this."

Gwen's voice came clearly down the line from the other end, the sound of her typing away on the keyboard of a computer was faint. "Will do Jack, do you have an ID on the body they found then? Anything I can run through the system?" But by Jack's silence, Gwen guessed not.

"Is anything alright Jack?" Now she was worried, just like Ianto had been. It seemed that more and more people were becoming worried about the way Jack was acting.

"It's fine, just find the CCTV. We have to find what is doing this." And with that Jack turned off his radio. He just stood there for a while, before, with hands in his pockets, he headed off down the alleyway and away. Where he was going was unclear, he just wanted to try and clear his head of anything.

Gwen looked over at Ianto and sighed low. "Something is really up with that man lately. Anyway, I have the GPS of where Jack was before he cut me off. He said that we have a body on their hands now, so, and I say this in the nicest manner, go pick up the dead body please Ianto. It would really help." Gwen gave a smile to seal the order and Ianto, after giving a look of 'Why me?' got up and wondered off.

Gwen was running any scan she could do of police files, CCTV and radio reports to find anything which linked the two dead bodies. She had only turned away from the computer for a moment, before a file flashed up. When Gwen looked back, she jumped slightly and read the title of the file. 'Mr & Mrs Smith'. Puzzled, Gwen opened the file and watched as picture after picture flooded the screen. Photographs of dead bodies which were missing their hearts and stomachs. A husband and wife, leaning up against the wall of their bedroom, dead.

Gwen's eyes stopped on a half hidden picture, which she clicked on to show it fully. It was a picture of a girl. Claudia. Her eyes seemed lifeless in the photograph. It had been named Claudia Smith. Gwen was not to know that this girl was the one haunting and hunting Jack.

Gwen started reading a statement by Claudia aloud.

'I did not know what had happened. Heard a growling, like a wild dog when it eats it food. Just thought that mother and father were watching something on the box. But then the growling stopped, so suddenly. I did not hear the click of the box being turned off, found it strange. So I got up, walked down the dark hallway and peeked in through the gap between the door frame and the door. The lamp was still on, their never slept with the lamp on. So I walked inside. And there they were. Dead. Cold. Lifeless. No Heart. No Stomach. The window was wide open and whatever had got to them, it was gone now.'

Gwen just stood there, not knowing what to say for a moment. This girl, barely 16, had found the dead bodies of her mother and father. Gwen opened up the files of Mr & Mrs Smith, looking over the normal data you got. Age, gender, place of birth, work. Gwen's eyes stopped on work. Both Mr and Mrs Smith worked at the same place. There was nothing odd about that, surely. But she was not so sure. There was a small hiss and Ianto suddenly started talking into her ear.

"Gwen they have found out the ID of our new body. A Mr Peter Rothwell. Look, are you sure you want this body brought back. It's not a pretty sight and I can't see what we are going to get from it. Gwen? Gwen, are you listening to me?" But Ianto was talking to himself. Gwen was too busy trying to find any file on Peter Rothwell.

Sure enough, Peter Rothwell worked for the same company as Mr and Mrs Smith did. This was becoming odd. Gwen was already looking up the woman found earlier then Ianto's voice sounded down her ear.

"Hello? Earth to Gwen? Anyone at home?" He sounded somewhat unhappy about not being answered. And before he had time to pop in a comment about Gwen not talking, she spoke up in a very rushed voice.

"Ianto, I know what links our two bodies. It's a company. They both work for it. Now I know it does not sound like much of a link. But I have found a third case, one which happened about two months ago which we did not know about. A mother and father, killed in the same way our two were. Their too worked for a company, called 'St. Mark Shipping'. We have to find this company and fast. I think whatever is killing these people, is linked to that company." Gwen rushed talking made very little sense to Ianto at the time, but he was glad to go along with it.

"Just meet me at the police station and tell the police to remove the body from the alleyway. We don't need it here, we have our lead." Gwen was already rushing up the stairs to leave the Hub when Ianto replied with a 'Yes Gwen' and disappeared off the air. Wherever Jack was, he was just going to have to catch up later.

**OOC - Continued**


	5. The Meeting

**Disclaimer: **I do not in any way own Torchwood or it's characters

**Note : **I love Torchwood so much, it's strange really.

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Chapter 5 – The Meeting

Stood on the docks, Jack kicked a near by stone into the water and watched as ripples formed. People would pass him by and yet not a word was said about how he looked or why he was there. It was like no one even cared about him. Did anyone? With a girl haunting his mind and a case which he felt was at an dead end, Jack was losing the hope and will to keep going with his work at Torchwood. Maybe there was someone better out there to run it, maybe Gwen was better then he was. She was most likely out there right now, finding results. Jack's thoughts were more true then he knew.

Walking along, Jack looked down at his feet until a second pair came into view and he slowly looked up. Claudia was just looking at Jack, a pained look in her eyes. He was about to turn to walk away, when Claudia stepped towards him and placed a hand onto Jack's arm.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I never meant any harm, Captain Jack Harkness." His full name just rolled off of her tongue, so natural. "All I wanted was for you to find out why my mother and father were killed. I just wanted someone to find out the truth. I was told about you, about Torchwood. And I wondered why you never came to help my family."

Slowly, Jack dared to look up at the sad face of Claudia, her eyes were like his, haunted and pained. Sadness seemed to fill hers at the same time as his did. Pulling away, Jack took a step back and away from Claudia, he did not know if he could trust someone who had been taking over the radio just to try and get him to find her.

"You must understand, it's been so hard for me. I only-"

Jack cut into her talking. "You hunted me over the radio, had me followed, made me feel like I was being watched every moment of my life. Do you know how that feels, how much pain you have caused me?" His voice was raising as he stood there, and looking sharply around, Jack saw eyes staring back at him, members of the public who were passing by. Claudia looked set to start crying, but taking a deep breath, she was ready with a counter argument.

"It's your job to help people! Your job to find out what roams Cardiff! And yet you seem content on sitting in your office, weeping over ones you have lost. Everyone loses people Jack, but the most of us move on because we are strong." Claudia went to open her mouth again, but found Jack grabbing her arm and starting to pull her away from the docks and back towards dry land. She was in too much of a state of shock to fight being dragged along by the man she had wanted to find her for so long.

The pair walked without saying a word to each other, Jack with his hands in his pockets, Claudia with her arms folded across her chest. They walked down the streets of Cardiff, heading for the park and a bench to sit themselves on. Upon finding them, Jack was first to plant himself down, before patting the wood next to him in a gesture to get Claudia to sit. Giving in, she unfolded her arms and slumped down by him, looking down at the ground.

"I suppose I should say sorry as well then." Jack said in a small voice. "Maybe, because of everything which has happened, I did not open my eyes to the bigger picture of what was going on around me. I'm sorry for your lose. But I really did not know that something had happened." His eyes flicked to her for a moment, before he looked back at a tree across the path from them.

"You see, there is only so much we can do. If no one reports it to us, or we don't pick it up on our scanners, then we never know. None of us can read minds, but saying that, none of us would want to. The filth that there is in some people. But that does not matter. What I'm trying to say is, if we knew, we would have been there." A sigh left the lips of Claudia once Jack had finished speaking and she shifted about slightly where she sat.

"And yet the same thing is happening again, and you're out here in a park with some girl."

"What do you mean, 'the same thing is happening again'?" Jack suddenly sounded interested in what Claudia had to say. His eyes had become fixed on her and he felt like shaking her shoulder to get her to speak.

"My mother and father were killed in their bedroom. I found them. I will never forget that day. Dead as a door knob, just slumped against the wall. Blood dripping from the open wounds. No heart, no stomach, no life." As Claudia was speaking, Jack's eyes were becoming wider. "And all I know, is that there was growling and then they were gone. Off to a better place, or so the rest of my family said. But where is better then being at home with your daughter. I was never a bad girl, always tried my best. So how could somewhere else be better then with me?" Jack was not listening, he was already stood and turning his radio back on.

"Gwen? Gwen, where are you?" Jack started pacing up and down in front of the bench, much to the dislike of Claudia, who felt like she was being pushed out again.

"I'm at the police station, why, what is it Jack?" Even Claudia could hear Gwen on the other end of the line.

"I found this girl, she said her parents were killed in the same way our two bodies were. Maybe she knows how to link this all up." But what Jack thought was new news, was really something he was behind with. Gwen was quick to fill him in on everything he needed to know and in no time he was racing up the path. Claudia had noticed that Jack was running off up the path and stood up, turning, she yelled after him.

"Where are you going? I'm talking to you." She started to follow after Jack, but he stopped in his track and looked around at her. "Wherever you're going, I'm coming with you. There is no way I'm being left out of this."

While shaking his head, Jack spoke. "You can't come with me. I'm sorry. But just keep out of this now. Thanks for the help kid." He went back over to Claudia and patted her lightly on the head, smiling. "Thanks for telling me about your lose, it is going to help more then you know." But the smile on Jack's lips were quick to fade when he saw the look on her face.

"No one calls me a kid. I have followed you for so long, you can't push me out now Captain Jack Harkness. Head of Torchwood." It wasn't the fact that Jack was leaving her to do his job, it was the fact that he was pushing her out of something which she was clearly involved in now. Arms crossing, she made a low growling sound as she looked up at Jack. He sighed, shaking his head, not having the time to fight with her.

"No, it's as simple as that. You can't help me or my team." Turning, he rushed off before Claudia had time to fight against his wish. She was left in the middle of the path, just looking at where he had once been.

"I will find you Jack! Mark my words! You have not seen the last of me!" Claudia yelled to nothing, if he was close enough to hear, he was not bothering to reply.

**OOC - Continued**


	6. St Mark Shipping

**Disclaimer: **I do not in any way own Torchwood or it's characters

**Note : **I can't believe it, chapter 6 already. I hope you guys are still reading ^^

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Chapter 6 – St Mark Shipping

The run from the park to the police station was short and as he crashed through the doors, he found himself nearly falling onto Gwen and Ianto, who were stood waiting. Standing up straight, he straighten his jacket and smiled lightly. Running a hand through his hair, he looked ready to start talking, but Gwen cut in.

"St. Mark Shipping, it's a company which both of our bodies worked for, and also Mr & Mrs Smith, a case from about 2 months ago, which were killed in the same way. So you met their daughter, Claudia then?" Gwen watched as Jack shuffled about on the spot for a moment, before nodding.

"You could say I met her." He gave a nervous laugh. "That does not matter anyway, what we need to do is get to St. Mark shipping and find out what is going on. You got an address for the place then?" The reply to Jack's question came in the form of Ianto waving a piece of paper in his face and smiling lightly. "Good job, lets get going."

Once Jack had had a look at the address, he lead the way to the building. It was a grey building, making it blend in with all the other buildings in the street it was on. 6 floors high, the name of the company was written on a small board which was fixed to the wall just by the doors. There seemed to be no life coming form the building itself, the windows were all covered up with blinds and the main doors were dark and uninviting.

Pushing the door slowly open, Jack looked inside and smiled at the small woman who was sat doing her nails at the front desk. She had blonde hair which was tied into a bun with chop sticks through to try and look more stylish. Filing them into a point, her nails were going to be a painted a deep red gloss, until she saw Jack stood waiting to talk to her and a smile appeared over her thin pale lips.

"Hiya, how can I help?" She asked in a very fake happy voice, putting on a smile and giving a light giggle. Jack smiled back, before placing a hand down on the desk and leaning close to her face.

"Hello. I'm here to see your boss. We're Torchwood. So, if you would not mind telling us where to go, we will leave you to your nails." Jack spoke in a mocking tone as he looked down at the woman, who smiled, nodded, before standing up and pointing to the lift.

"5th floor. Just take the lift straight up. I'm sure my 'boss' is waiting for you." Both Gwen and Ianto headed over to the lift, looking back at Jack who smiled, stroked the woman's cheek lightly and whispered something in her ear. A laugh burst from her and she blushed, before sitting back down in her chair. Gwen rolled her eyes and Ianto pressed the button which called the lift.

While Jack was walking over, the doors to the lift opened and the light inside flicked slightly, before a pre-recorded female voice sounded 'Welcome to St. Mark Shipping, we hope we can help you today'. Ianto was the first to step inside and he held a button in to stop the doors shutting while Jack and Gwen got into the lift. The three looked at each other, before Ianto was watched letting go of the button for the lift doors and pressing the one for the 5th floor.

As the doors shut, Jack spoke up. "Don't look at me like I just committed a crime. I was telling her that she did not need all the make-up to look nice. Did you see her, perfect skin, perfect hair? Don't you think it's a bit odd that someone can look that good WITHOUT make-up on? I know the difference between someone wearing make-up and someone without it. That woman did not have a ounce of foundation on or anything."

"Some people are just that lucky Jack, maybe she was born to parents who had good skin and hair, it's not something uncommon you know." Gwen said low, crossing her arms as she watched the numbers going up on a small screen above the lift doors.

"Gwen, nothing is normal with us." Ianto said, almost in a whisper as the lift stopped and the doors slowly opened. The hallway which the lift connected to was dark, the lights trying to come on but failing. The only light which could be seen, was coming from a room at the end of the hallway, the door partly open. Gwen, Ianto and Jack looked at each other before heading out of the lift. The doors crashed shut and the lift disappeared back down.

"Looks like someone does not want us going back downstairs then." Jack gave a small laugh as he removed his gun from the hostel around his waist. Ianto and Gwen copied Jack and slowly inched down the hallway towards the door. They were guessing it was the office of the boss of St. Mark Shipping, but no one could be sure with the poor lighting.

Gwen was the first to reach the door and keeping her gun out of sight, slowly pushed the door open more. She looked inside and a small 'Hello' left her lips, before she pushed her gun back into the hostel.

"I was told some people were here to see me, Torchwood is it?" The gruff man's voice came from the office. Jack raised an eyebrow as he looked over at Ianto for a moment, before slipping his own gun away, which was an action repeated by Ianto not long after Jack. Gwen opened the door enough for all three of them to be seen and also for them to see inside the office at the man sat inside.

The office was like any normal office, a desk with a chair, filing cabinets with files in, an old computer sat working on the desk along with a number of photo frames which their guessed had family photos in. The walls had once been white washed, but had started to turn yellow over time and the paint work was peeling badly. The man sat at the desk was nearly the same colour as the walls, going yellow from sickness. His hair was falling back in patches and any left hair had turned a mix between grey and white. The only part of him which looked young was his eyes, still bright, still full of life.

Looking at Gwen, the man's eyes moved onto Ianto and then fixed themselves on Jack, which caused a smile to form on his lips as he sat there. He rose up from his chair and held out a hand to them, it was meant to be shook, but no one took it. His nails were a deep yellow, and his hands were old with age. He left his hand stay in mid air, before Jack pushed forward and took the hand, shaking it lightly.

"Hello, I'm Jack Harkness. Captain Jack Harkness. And you would be?" As he asked the question, he let go of the man's hand and took a step back. The man replaced his hands in his pockets and made a small bow towards the small group.

"I'm Mark, head of St. Mark Shipping. I don't remember having made an appointment to see anyone, so this is a shock." Mark sat himself down in his chair and looked up at the three. "So, how can I help you then?" His voice was calm, slightly too calm for Gwen's liking and she eyed him wearily as he was sitting there.

Gwen went to open her mouth, but Jack had already planted himself down in the only other chair in the room, his legs crossed so he looked more at ease. "Well, we are looking into the deaths of four people who used to work for this company. You wanted to know if you knew anything which could help in the investigation." Mark seemed to be weighing up the answer in his mind before he spoke, trying to collect the correct words.

"Well, it has been a great lose to the company. And my heart goes go out to the families of those who have died." But his eyes were telling a different story, joy mixed with fear showed out of his bright eyes.

"Yes, it must have been hard on other people working here to lose 4 people in 2 months. Do you know anything about what happened to them, a reason why they could have been murdered like they were?" Gwen piped up, not liking to be left out. Her question caused Jack to look around at her and gave her a stern look to 'be careful about what your saying'. Ianto was just happy to stand with his back against the door frame, looking down at the floor.

Mark played with a pen for a moment, before shaking his head. "I know of no reason why someone would wish to kill them. They were some of the best workers I have had in my company. Always willing to do extra hours, happy to help on the weekend when they did not have to work. Like I said before, it has been a great lose to the company, but then again, no one lives forever. It was hard to fill their places in this place, but we found people in the end willing to work here."

"Do you find it hard to employ people then?" Ianto suddenly asked from the door, not looking up as he did so.

Mark looked shocked and smiled gently. "No, it's not finding the people, it's about how they fit with the people already working here. You know how it is, people build up friendships and you can't just put someone else into the picture to replace them." Both Jack and Gwen looked at each other and at that point, Jack sighed and Gwen looked to the floor.

"Well." Jack slowly stood. "If you can think of anything which could help, please don't hesitate to call the police and let them know. Thank you for your time." Mark made a small nod, before smiling at them all.

"Any time." His voice trailed off slightly as the three left his office and headed back down towards the stairs. The door to the office closed and the light in the hallway all but went. Finding their way back to the lift was not easy, but soon they were outside the cold doors and looking about for the button to call the lift. There did not seem to be one.

A growl appeared behind them, and someone screamed before everything went dark for Gwen, Ianto and Jack. Bright red eyes appeared in mid air and a laugh rose from a dark figure stood looking down at the stunned bodies of the members of Torchwood.

"Shame, this is what happens when people stick their noses into my business."

**OOC - Continued**


	7. Hunting for Clues

**Disclaimer: **I do not in any way own Torchwood or it's characters

**Note : **I favour Captain Jack Harkness out of all of the characters in Torchwood

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Chapter 7 – Hunting for Clues

It had become dark outside, and Claudia was still sat on the park bench where she had been with Jack, looking down at her boots. A street lamp flicked on over her head, the orange light bathing her and giving her a holy look. The odd jogger or dog walker would go by without a care in the world. No one stopping to ask why she was sat on her own, or if she needed any help. Not that she wanted anyone to stop for her, she was happy by herself.

How long had it been since Jack had left her, she did not know. The hours had just slowly ticked away as she had stayed in the same place. People going about their normal lives, dogs running up to smell her feet, children pointing at her and asking why she looked so sad, mothers hushing them and pushing them slowly along in hope of getting out of the sun and into the shade.

Jack had just left her, telling her she was not allowed to help. She wanted to get revenge for what had happened with her family and yet she was being denied that now. But normally she never let anyone give her orders, so why had she taken Jack's. She had not followed or even tried to find where he had gone, she had just walked back to the bench and set herself down, hands in her pockets. Finger tips pressing against the plastic back of her phone. No one called her all afternoon and now it was close to 10 at night when at last her phone went off.

She had turned it onto silent and so it vibrated but the ring tone did not go. Pulling it out, she flipped the phone up and placed it carefully to her ear, listening to the sound of fingers hitting a keyboard in a quick hurry.

"Claudia, I'm not getting any readings from the Hub, so I took it on myself to try and find where they all were." He stopped, wanting to hear if she was going to react. When Claudia made a small sound, he felt it was safe to carry on talking. "And I went over everything I could find and about 4 hours ago I saw them heading into this building. But the thing is, they have not come out again." Claudia looked up, worry filled her as she looked around.

"Four hours, that's too long for comfort." He said from the other end of the line. Raising up from the bench, she looked around herself, not sure what she was going to do next. She started walking in the direction that Jack had gone earlier, hoping that she could be of some use if they were in trouble. Getting to the edge of the park, she looked up and down the path.

"What building did they go into then?" She asked, her voice filled with panic. The street lamps were brighter then in the park and not a orange, so she was able to see better down the road.

"Claudia, they went to St. Mark Shipping." His voice trailed off, knowing how she was going to react to that. She stood, staring up the road for a moment, before cutting off the call by closing her phone. It was slipped into her pocket before she cracked her fingers in a small stretch. She did the school like warming up stretching that she used to do before a lesson of P.E.

"Thank you. Now it's time for me to find you Jack." She said under her breath. She smiled lightly, before she set off at a ran down the street. Her feet pounded the pavement as she went, arms swinging so she could go faster. She turned left, right and then right again before pelting down a side road to come out onto the street where St. Mark Shipping was. She slid to a stop close by, but did not dare go to the main doors of the building itself. Instead she headed down an alleyway which ran down the left hand side of the building.

There was no light down the alleyway, and so she had to pick her way carefully until her came to a fire door. It was slightly ajar, 'Handy' was the thought to cross her mind. Pulling the door open, she peeked inside before she herself went in. The door lead to a set of fire stairs, which went up the whole building. Starting up the stairs, she was not sure what she would meet once she had got upstairs, but she was preparing herself for whatever could come.

Getting onto the first floor, she pulled open the door which led out onto the floor and she called out into the room. "Hello, anyone in here?" When no reply came, she called again. "I'm here to help, anyone at all?" Once again there was no reply and so she went back out onto the stairs and started to climb up to the second floor.

On the second and third floor there was no reply to her calling, which was causing her heart to sink, thinking that she would not be able to help anyone if they were there. But on the fourth floor, there was someone calling back to her. She had poked her head around the door, and was looking out into the darkness of an open office space, desks littered the place, each with a computer on top. It looked like it had not been used in a while as there was a thick layer of dust to all of the surfaces.

Stepping fully into the room, Claudia cupped her hands at her mouth and called. "Hello, anybody out there?" She felt like she was calling to a lost person at sea or in the middle of the forest. She got nothing from her first call and so shouted again. "Can you hear me? Make a sound or something if anyone is there?" She stood for a moment and turned to go, when a faint voice came from somewhere far in the room.

"Gwen? Jack? Help me." The voice called, weak at first before it became stronger. Claudia knew the voice too well, having heard it a number of times before.

"Ianto? Ianto Jones? Is that you?" She was walking slowly around the office, peering under desks and into storage cupboards. "Ianto, I'm here to help you. Call out so that I can find you." Her voice was strong in the silence, whereas his was weak. She picked her way across the room until the voice of Ianto was strong enough to lead her to him.

Ianto was slumped under a desk, his hand gripping at his own thigh as the strong scent of blood filled the air around him. He looked pale in the darkness of the room, eyes barely seeming to be open as Claudia crouched down beside him. A soft gasp left her, before she shook herself slightly in an effort to regain focus on what had to be done. The man was clearly in a great deal of pain and just staring at him was not going to help.

"Ianto Jones. I never thought I would get to meet you. I'm Claudia." She said all of this while pulling the man's fingers away from his thigh to try and see how badly hurt he was. The blood appeared to have stopped and the wound itself looked clean, but Claudia didn't have a clue about first aid.

Taking a look around the room, the girl worked out quickly that there wasn't going to be anything of help for her, and so returned her eyes to Ianto.

"Where are the others Ianto?" Her voice was stern as she looked deeply into Ianto's eyes. "Tell me what happened." For a moment, the man didn't look like he was able to speak, turning his face down to the floor. But then a voice came from him.

"I don't know... All I remember is red eyes. Bright. Bold. Red. Ey-"

A scream shook the room and Claudia's natural reaction was to look around. It sounded like the scream had come from the floor above where she and Ianto were sat. Folding her legs under herself, Claudia sat in front of the injured man, just listening. Foot steps faintly echoed ahead before any pain-filled cry rang around the building. It sounded like a woman, but the girl couldn't be sure without proof.

"What is happening Ianto? What is attacking people? You can't keep me out of this, I know what is going on. Don't push me away, I can help. Whatever this thing is, it took my parents. And I won't stop until I know why or... Until it gets me." The tone of Claudia's voice was dark as she removed herself from the floor and stood over Ianto with her hand reaching out to him.

For a second the man looked confused, before at last Ianto slapped his hand down into Claudia's and allowed her to heave him up onto his one good leg. Using her as a leaning post, Ianto and Claudia slowly made their way back towards the fire door.

"Claudia?"

"Yes Ianto?" The girl looked up at the Torchwood employee and saw a smile spread across his face.

"Ever heard of a 3-headed dog?"

**OOC: Continued**


	8. The WakeUp Call

**Disclaimer: **I do not in any way own Torchwood or it's characters

**Note : **I'm so sorry that it has taken so long to get chapter 8 up here. I've been working on some other stories and just put this one on the back bench. For that I am sorry, but here we go with chapter 8. Enjoy.

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Chapter 8 – The Wake-Up Call

The room appeared to be foggy or so Jack thought it was the room to beginning with. It was only when the pain started in his head that he understood that it wasn't foggy in the office, but in fact that his vision had gone foggy. Waking up from death was never an easy process, but feeling the other pains was even worse. His head felt as if it had exploded, and it most likely had, but the man didn't want to find that out until he was fully back to life. The last thought that he could remember, was staring up at a pair of red eyes and then blank.

For now, Jack had to go on sounds to try and work out what was going on. There was clearly no shouting and so he had to assume that he was the only one left in the room he remembered going into. The tick of a clock and the sound of a computer hum was close by to the man and so he guessed that he had fallen onto someone's desk top. The fact that the whole building was void of workers didn't sit well with the captain and he was starting to doubt whether the man they had first met really was running a company at all.

As the fog starting to lift from his eyes, Jack could finally see that he was in fact staring up at a ceiling light. The sudden brightness caused the man to bring a hand up to his face and it was at this point that he felt a drop of liquid fall onto his skin.

The smell of blood shot up his nose and caused the captain to sit bolt upright on the desk. It was by now that his vision had returned to a semi-normal state and so he was able to view the source of the bleeding. He watched as the skin of his hand slowly started to close up around the hole which had ripped through the flesh. For a moment he studied himself before shifting off the edge of the desk and onto his feet.

His balance was slightly out, and his head felt like it was spinning, but the captain stayed still as his eyes flicked around. The room looked like a strong wind had blown through, because papers had now covered the carpet below. A fine layer of dirt topped the desks and a cool rush of air was the only sign that a window was open.

Taking his steps slowly, Jack paced across the room until he found himself leaning against a wall on the opposite side. Looking back to where he had just come, the answer to the early question 'what happened' was now clear.

Specks of blood dotted the desk he had been laid over, and after that it looked like there had been a murder. The walls were now coated in a red which wasn't paint and the splatter pattern had all the tell-tale signs of a gun being fired. The throbbing in Jack's head increased as he considered the idea that a bullet may have made it's way through his brain. Bringing his good hand up, the captain slowly felt around on his forehead. There didn't feel like there was any marks and if the fact that he was standing was anything to go by, Jack had to believe that he had lived once more through a bullet to the head.

It wasn't an every-day thing to be shot, but when you had lived as long as Jack had, you got to experience your fair few. He tried to recall the last time he had woken up to find himself shot, but he suddenly remembered it wasn't the time or the place to be daydreaming. Something was still lurking around the building and it was his job to find out what.

Heading towards the door to leave, Jack patted down his own body. In any other situation it may have looked odd, but the captain didn't mind as he was alone. When he got down to his waist, a smile started to creep across his face as the man pulled a gun out from behind his jacket.

"Good to see I didn't lose you in the fall." He spoke aloud, but kept his voice down to a whisper, trying to act professional even when the odds seemed to be against him.

Coming into range of the door, the captain stopped still in his path and listened carefully. The sound of steps was echoing out on the landing of the stairwell and if he listened closely, Jack believed that there was also muffled voices to be heard. Bringing his gun up, he prepared himself to open fire on whatever was about to come through the door.

The shadow that was being cast under the door became darker the closer it got, and Jack felt himself holding his breath in an attempt to make himself silent. He watched as the door was slowly pushed open and something stepped into the room.

"Are you sure this is the room he was in?"

"It's got to be, we haven't found him yet. Jack? Are you there?" The soft voice of Ianto calling out into the room was a relief for the captain. He allowed himself to breath before stepping away from the wall upon which he had been leaning. Slipping his gun back into it's place, Jack made his presence known by clearing his throat loudly.

Ianto jumped and his head shot around to the side. Fear was washing over his eyes, but at the sight of his captain stood there caused the male to calm in appearance. The Welshman didn't look in a good way and yet it was the sight of Claudia which surprised Jack the most. She was drained of all her colour and any emotion she was feeling were hidden behind a stone mask. All of her efforts seemed to be going into keeping the male beside her standing.

"Keeping yourself alive then Jack." Her voice was icy cold and the stare which Claudia gave took the captain back slightly, but he straightened himself up and came over to curl his arm around the waist of Ianto. At once the Torchwood employee knew what the action meant, and he shifted his weight off of the girl and onto Jack.

"Care to explain why you are here Claudia?" Jack spoke as he looked over the leg of Ianto. He didn't dare to touch the wound and yet he couldn't help the feeling of guilt which was building inside of him. He had dragged an innocent girl into the mess of a Torchwood case and now she didn't seem to want to go.

The sound of her foot-steps was the first sign that Jack got of the movement from the young girl. When he raised his head up, the captain found he was staring straight into the eyes of Claudia and this caused a squeak to leave his lips.

"It appears I have been saving your employees. Now do YOU care to explain what is happening Captain Jack Harkness?" His name rolled off of her tongue and this sent a shiver down the spine of Jack. Claudia was prepared to stand up against the arguments of the man to send her away and so was ready to strike back against his reply.

"You shouldn't be here. I told you not to follow me."

"And when have I listened to you Captain Harkness. Did you listen to me when I was calling out for help? No. And so now you know what it feels like not to be listened to. Ianto has told me what it is that killed my parents and I want to see an end to it. Tonight. Are you able to do that Captain Jack Harkness?" Bitterness filled her words, but the anger which Claudia felt couldn't be contained within her. Knowing that the creature which had killed her only family was within the building caused resentment to bubble away inside of the girl.

Jack's eyes turned to look at Ianto, and a blush was forming on the cheeks of the Welshman.

"She had a right to know Jack. And don't deny it now, you know just as well as I do what it is."

A loud sigh left Jack and he felt his shoulder drop slightly. This was his way of showing that he had given up and was giving in to what was being said. His eyes looked down at his shoes for a moment, before he brought them back up to seek the face of Claudia. There was a mist in the eyes of the girl which could only be described as anger, but there was more to her. Her emotions were unstable and she likely to do something stupid, but the captain had little choice in the way things had turned out.

Tightening his grip on the waist of Ianto, Jack moved them towards the door to leave. He didn't have a plan, but then again it wasn't often when the Torchwood team did have a plan. Luck and chance were best of friends with Jack.

"By the way, where's Gwen?" No sooner had the question left the lips of Jack, that a scream hit the air.

**OOC: Continued**


	9. We Meet at Last

**Disclaimer: **I do not in any way own Torchwood or it's characters

**Note : **So here we are on chapter 9. It's all been building up to this moment. Hope it turned out good, but this isn't the final chapter just yet. ^^

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Chapter 9 – We Meet at Last

In her time at Torchwood, Gwen could not deny that she hadn't seen her fair share of weird and wonderful creatures. She had also seen the mess which those creatures were able to leave behind. But the sight which she found herself a part of was a shock to her system.

Years in the police force and dozens of murder scenes could not prepare her for the sight she had woken up to. While it had appeared in the beginning that Mark and the small woman behind the front desk had been running the show, that was no longer the case. A hand was laying, twitching at the side of Gwen and she knew for sure it wasn't her own. The carefully filled nails were broken now and the white skin was stained deep red. The owner of the hand, the small woman from before, lay resting up against the wall across from Gwen, but there was no life in her body to be seen.

The slow sound of liquid falling caused Gwen to look to her right. When nothing appeared to be there, she turned her head up towards the ceiling and it was at this point that a scream left her lips.

Things hanging from the ceiling was one thing, but when those things were the flesh stripped bodies of people, it caused the stomach of Gwen to flip. The need to be sick was strong, but Gwen found that she was unable to take her eyes away from the swinging body above her. Blood continuously dripped down from open wounds and all hopes of saving the poor person had been lost long before Gwen had awoken. She prayed within her own mind that it wasn't a member of the Torchwood team but nothing was sure in the darkened room.

A deep rumbling sound broke Gwen away from the sight of the hanging person and back to around the room. She found that she couldn't see past her feet and so this caused the sudden fear which she had felt to flare up even more. The rumble came again, before a growl followed. Gwen realised she was no longer alone in the room.

With no way of telling where she was in relation to everything else, Gwen felt glued to the spot on the ground as she listened to the growling sounds. The creature creating them didn't seem to be moving from it's spot and after allowing her eyes to hunt the darkness, Gwen believed she was able to make out the shape of the creature to the left hand side of her. Judging from the shadow, Gwen guessed the being to be much bigger then a dog and so scrapped the idea that she was cornered in a room with an angry doggie.

The smell of blood was starting to make her stomach turn again, and biting down into her lower lip was the only way Gwen found to stop herself throwing up. She could only watch as the shadow shifted from side to side before slowly turning.

Red eyes glowed from within the dark shape and the feeling of sickness was replaced with the feeling of the end. Gwen didn't know if it was her fear or something else which was keeping her rooted to the spot on the ground, but she understood that she was completely defenceless in the face of a creature which was most likely the cause of the scene around her.

_If this is the end, then let it be quick. _The thought raced it's way across the mind of Gwen as she found herself staring into the red eyes of the creature. They were growing larger and so it could only mean that whatever the source of the glowing, floating eyes was, it was making it's way towards Gwen. For a second she considered screaming out, but it seemed pointless when she wasn't even sure if anyway else was still alive.

The beat of her heart within her chest grew stronger with each passing moment, as Gwen watched the creature come towards her. The smell of blood was soon over-powered by a rotting smell which drifted from the shadow in front of her. The smell chocked the air and made it difficult for Gwen to breath as the being growled again and stepped into the circle of light which was falling on the Torchwood employee. Gwen's breath caught in her throat and she found herself locking eyes with a being which was clearly from another world.

She had believed from the beginning that Ianto's idea of a three-headed dog was silly, but as Gwen found herself face to face with a creature which could only be described as a three-headed dog, she was starting to have second thoughts.

It's main head looked directly at Gwen, while the one to the left stared out into space above itself and the one on the right hung down. Only the middle head appeared to have glowing eyes and as she was able to study the creature more, Gwen noticed that the eyes of the other two heads were heavily bleeding. It's back legs were shorter then it's front and so the creature appeared in a crouched position as it opened it's mouth.

The roar which escaped the mouth of the creature filled the room and echoed back. It was starting to move forwards Gwen and she felt her back stiffen up slightly. As it drew closer, she could feel it's warm breath on her face and it's rotten smell filled her nose completely. She felt chocked of all air and stared in horror at the being as once more it opened it's mouth.

Gwen thought for sure that it was over and pressed her eyes firmly shut in an attempt to stop herself from seeing what she believed was going to happen next.

A loud banging sound filled the room and caused the creature to look up, closing it's mouth which was hanging open. A second bang echoed around before a third, louder one followed and light poured into the room. A door flew across the floor and came to a rest a few inches from Gwen.

Turning her head, she found herself blinking into the bright light which surrounded shapes in the doorway.

"GWEN!" A voice cried out into the room as the shapes started to move closer to Gwen. It took a few seconds for her to realise that she had in fact heard the booming voice of Jack filling the room and suddenly her courage returned to her.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god. Jack! Help!" Her voice wasn't overly strong, but knowing that the captain was in the room gave hope to the old police officer that she would be safe. She had taken her attention away from the creature and so didn't notice that, while it may have been distracted for a second, it was now moving in on Gwen once more.

Jack quickly moved across the room with his gun held firmly in his hands. He squeezed the trigger and let out a warning shot at the creature, aiming so that it just brushed over the top of it. He watched as it stopped in it's tracks and turned it's good head to eye Jack. The captain didn't want the creature dead, as Torchwood was all about finding out what came through the rift as well as stopping it.

"Who are you?" The voice which rose from the being was rough and had a growling edge to it. It seemed to understand that Jack was willing to attack it and so proved it had some level of intelligence with stopping it's own attack on Gwen.

"Captain Jack Harkness is the name." Jack kept his voice cool as he eyed the creature. "I've not seen one of you in a long time. Now which race is it again that sends it's hunting dogs before itself?" Knowing what the creature was gave the man his confident edge back as he lowered his gun and started to casually walk the room. He seemed to be ignoring Gwen on the floor or the pair which was Ianto and Claudia in the doorway.

The creature didn't seem to like the fact that something about itself was known and it's attention was completely locked onto the moving form of Jack. It started to move in a circle as it followed the movements of the captain.

Jack couldn't help making over the top thinking sounds as he looked between the creature and the scene around him. When he stopped next to the hanging person, his eyes studied it up and down before looking over at the being. He noted that two of it's heads were blind and so focused on the good pair of red eyes which was staring out.

"Your masters are not meant to be here for many years yet. So how has one of their hounds ended up in Cardiff?" Jack's comment caused the creature to make a loud growling sound as it took a step towards the captain. However he was quick to bring his gun up. "I don't think so. You have a nasty habit of attacking people and I don't want to be next on your list of what you've eaten today. Tell me why you are here?"

The creature weighed up it's options for a moment, before sitting down on the ground and staring up at Jack.

"I'm not the first and I won't be the last. You could say I'm testing the waters. Your race is so weak. So stupid. The humans in this place thought they were controlling me by taking out my eyes, but they never knew it was truly the other way around." A human laugh came from the being and sent a shudder down the spine of those in the room. Jack even found himself unnerved by the words and laugh of the creature.

By now Gwen had pulled herself up onto her feet and was standing in the door with Ianto. She had taken the weight of the male off of Claudia and was watching the scene unfolding in front of her. It was because of this that she didn't notice the girl bending down to the floor and picking something up. Claudia felt fear at the sight of the creature, but it was nothing compared to the anger within her. She knew that the being was the reason why her parents were no longer with her, and to her it didn't matter what the creature wanted or where it had come from.

As Jack opened his mouth to speak, Claudia let the anger she felt control her actions and brought the object in her hands up. She felt like she was seeing red as the creature turned it's head toward the girl and with a cry leaving her lips, she shut her eyes tightly and listened to the sound of the gun shot filling the room.

**OOC: Continued**


	10. The Goodbye?

**Disclaimer: **I do not in any way own Torchwood or it's characters

**Note : **I've made it to chapter 10 and this is the final chapter. Please enjoy and review! ^^

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Chapter 10 – The Goodbye?

After the sound of the bullet firing from the gun had died away, Claudia slowly allowed her eyes to open. There was a loud thud and the girl could only watch as the creature staggered to the side before collapsing in a heap on the ground. The bullet, however badly aimed, had ripped through the skull of the creature's good head and killed it at once.

For a while silence was the only sound to fill the room as no one dared to move from their spots. But it had fallen to Jack to make the first move towards Claudia. By this time he had slipped his gun away and with his hands raised up in a defensive position, edged towards the shaking girl.

"Claudia, put the gun down." Jack drew out his words, keeping a low tone in order to sound harmless. He eyed the gun in her hand before shifting his gaze over to the body of the being. It was twitching where it lay, but he was sure that it wasn't about to jump up and attack anyone and so turned back to the girl. She was staring straight ahead with the gun in her hands shaking violently, colour being drained from her skin.

The Captain opened his mouth to speak again, but decided that the girl wasn't going to be talked around and so he edged his way closer to her. Claudia flinched slightly as Jack slipped his arm around her middle and used his other hand in order to pull the gun out of her grip. It was at this point that her body seemed to give in and she fell against Jack, leaving him to suddenly support the weight of her body as he dropped the gun down onto the floor. He knew that it belonged to Gwen, but he thought it was best not to bring up the fact that she shouldn't of allowed it out of her hands. Turning back towards the other members of the Torchwood team, Jack smiled lightly.

"Time to leave?" His voice was upbeat as he looked from Gwen to Ianto. Neither looked in a good way, but the fact that the two were still standing made Jack happy. He couldn't bear the idea of losing anyone else in his life and so as he lifted Claudia into his arms, the smile which spread across his face wasn't forced as he headed out of the building.

Like any clean-up operation which Torchwood had to undertake, it took hours. The public were never meant to know of the things which Jack and his team had to face, and so every move they made had to be done so carefully. But by the time the sun was starting to light up the sky, they were finished. Jack hummed to himself as he pulled the SUV around the corner and towards a parking spot outside the Millennium Centre.

Staring out across the bay, Claudia could still feel her whole body shaking. The cold air of the morning was blowing hard against her face and it was a relief to finally be away from the smell of the St Mark Shipping building. The shock from the night's events still hadn't fully sunk in for the girl, and so her mind replayed clips of what had taken place. It all didn't seem real, but Claudia knew it wasn't one of her daydreams about the end of her search. The fact was, she had finally come face to face with the creature which had killed her parents and had taken a stand.

In the distance she could hear the tap of feet slowly coming towards her, however the girl didn't turn around. She knew all too well who the foot-steps belonged to and a sigh left her lips as a pair of shoes came into her line of sight as she stared down at the ground.

"You know, you don't need to find me any more. It's over now." Her voice was low as she spoke and the wind was quick to carry her words away, but Jack had heard them all the same. He gave a slight laugh before pushing his hands into his pockets and rocking on his heels slightly. His jacket blew out behind him as they stood facing into the wind and for once a sense of peace rushed through him. At last he didn't have to fear turning on the radio or feel as if he was no longer able to do his job, all because of the girl next to him.

"Claudia?" Jack waited to see if the girl was going to look up at him before he carried on speaking. And just as he thought, her eyes turned up to stare into his face with a puzzled expression glued to her features.

"Yes Captain Jack Harkness?" When Claudia spoke his name, it no longer had an edge of bitterness to it. But the Captain couldn't help feeling a shiver run up his spine at the use of his full name.

"Do you understand what that creature was?" It was a stupid question, but Jack felt he had to ask all the same. He was the only one who had such a vast knowledge on the aliens they found but sometimes normal people surprised him with their interpretation of the things they meet. He watched as Claudia seemed to chew over something in her mind, before she started to shake her head and turn her eyes back out to the sea. She had guessed he was going to tell her all the same and so kept her mouth shut as she listened.

"In a way Ianto was right about it being a three headed dog, but to the race it belongs to, that creature was so much more then just a pet. Before they invade a planet, they send them ahead in order to find out what they can about the life-forms. They hunt, track and search for anything that their masters can use before hiding away and waiting for the invasion to begin."

Claudia felt nothing as she listened to what Jack had to say. The emotion of guilt which she thought might have appeared never did and so she stood stoney faced into the gusts of wind which whipped up from the waves.

"I guess the creature had gone wild or something, because it wasn't meant to be here. That's part of the future yet." Jack felt the smile fade from his face now as he thought about what was to come. There had been so much he had wanted to ask the creature, but now that chance has gone and so he was left believing that there was something he wasn't getting right. He knew how things were meant to end up for the planet Earth, but he had already learnt that the future had a way of changing when you least expect it.

"So what happens now then Captain? I know what you normally do to the people who find out about Torchwood. They get retconned. Even your own friends do. So is that what happens now Jack?" Her tone had become mocking as Claudia looked up at Jack, her eyes wide. There was a tear running it's way down her cheek and a lump was forming in her throat. She watched as Jack sighed before turning his body towards her. She didn't react as his arms wrapped around her and he pulled her close, crushing her face into his chest.

"I'm sorry Claudia." These three words sparked a fear within the girl which had been building. She knew that Jack was clever, but she had hoped that he wouldn't take her memories away of what had happened. She finally felt at peace over the death of her parents and ready to move on, but the Captain would wipe that all from her mind in a single action.

The lids of her eyes started to become heavy, and sleep brushed through the mind of the girl. She gripped onto the jacket of Jack as she felt herself cry, trying to shake herself to keep awake. But she was unable to fight the sleep which gripped her body and soon the world became black.

**OOC: The End (Please review!) Sequel - Coming To Find Me (Search or look under profile)**


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